266 MR. BOULENGER ON AZEMIOPS FE^. [May 15, 



A communication was read from Sir John Lubbock, containing 

 a letter addressed to him by Mr. George A. Treadwell, concerning 

 a fatal case of poisoning by the bite of Heloderma suspectum. jNIr. 

 Treadwell gave the following extracts from the ' Cochise Record ' of 

 May 2nd, 1884 :— 



" Sunday evening Dr. ^Matthews was summoned, by telegram, to 

 Fairbanks (a railway-station near Tombstone, Arizona Territory, 

 U.S.A.), to attend Colonel Yearger, who was reported seriously ill. 

 Owing to a delay in the telegram, the doctor did not reach the patient 

 until several hours after his death, which had been very sudden. 



" It appears that Yearger had been fooling with a Gila Monster, 

 and in attempting to open the creature's mouth, was bitten on the 

 right thumb. Instantly the poisou took effect, and although every 

 convenient remedy was applied, he lived but a few hours. An 

 inquest was subsequently held, and a verdict returned in accordance 

 with the above facts. 



"As this is the third or fourth death which has occurred in the 

 Territory from bites of tliis reptile, it should set at rest, at once and 

 for ever, the tlieory so prevalent that their bite is not poisonous." 



Mr. Boulenger exhibited the type specimen of a new genus of 

 Snakes, Azemiops fece, recently discovered by M. Fea, of the Genoa 

 Civic Museum, in the Kakhien Hills, Upper Burma. This dis- 

 covery was considered the most striking that had been made in 

 Indian Ophiology within the present century. The new Snake 

 combined the external characters of a Lycodontoid Colubrine with 

 the poison-apparatus of a Viper. The loreal shield, which was 

 present in Azemiops, had hitherto been regarded by Indian Ophi- 

 ologists as indicating the innocuous nature of a Snake ; and it was 

 therefore useful to emphasize on the inefficiency of such a criterion 

 in the hopeless task of distinguishing poisonous from harmless Snakes 

 otherwise than by examination of the dentition. 



The specimen exhibited was unique, and had been entrusted to 

 Mr. Boulenger by the Marquis G. Doria. The description would 

 shortly appear in the ' Annals of the Genoa Museum.' 



The following letter, addressed to the Secretary by Mr. E. E. 

 Cotes, Entomological Department, Indian Museum, Calcutta, was 

 read : — 



" Indian Museum, Calcutta. 

 23rd April, 1888. 

 " My dear Sir, 



" I venture to ask for your assistance in the following matter. 

 The question of economic entomology is being taken up by the 

 Trustees of the Indian Museum, and an endeavour is being made to 

 collect specimens of the various Indian insect-pests, and to record all 

 that can be learnt about them, both from practical men, who have 

 actual experience of them out here, and also from entomologists in 

 various parts of the world. The idea is, tliat when the life- 

 histories of the insects have been accurately learnt, methods of dealing 



